Capturing Opportunity Costs

“If you don’t buy the tool you need, you will eventually
pay for it, but not have your tool.” – Henry Ford  

It’s never easy to know when the ideal moment is to make large capital investments in equipment. Is the risk going to pay off? Is this the right time to commit funds? How quickly will there be a return on the investment?  With the economic slowdown of 2009-2010, these questions loom large in many a manufacturer’s mind. Yet time and again we have seen how correct Henry Ford was when he penned the above quote. After all, there is risk not only in investing, but also in failing to invest – especially if your competition forges ahead to devote more capital to production improvements while your company stands idle on the issue. No company of any size can afford to pay for a tool in the form of opportunity cost, particularly when opportunity gains can be extraordinarily large.  

Table Blasts Yield Quick ROI for Shotblasting

At MetFin, we’ve seen many customers realize immediate gains from improved production flow once our shotblasting machines are employed. That means not only do they recoup their initial investment quickly, but also enjoy ongoing increased revenues well into the future. We work closely with prospective customers to analyze the finer details of their production processes. This is because our shotblast machines are always custom fit to specific needs of individual customers, to fulfill requirements of even the most unique situations.  

Working this closely with customers, our professionals ultimately help them identify cost reduction opportunities through implementation of wheel blast technology. After two years of trouble free blast cleaning, a MetFin customer commented that his MetFin table blast is “one of the best money savers we have,” and he is now considering adding an even larger machine.    

Productivity Gains Yield Competitive Advantage

With new shotblasting equipment in place, customers experience an immediate competitive advantage in securing new sales opportunities. They are better able to meet client deadlines with improved project turn-around times. This means they can set pricing more competitively, and deliver reliably consistent finished products for their customers. Because the whole facility becomes more productive, increased sales volume capacity is also created. In fact, many of our customers return time and again to purchase shotblasting equipment from MetFin . One MetFin customer purchased two shotblast units from MetFin in a three-year span recently told us: “The equipment is cost effective compared to other units we have reviewed. The units are built sturdy and to last a life time, the expendable parts are easy to obtain. If I had to depend on only one piece of equipment in my tooling department to get the job done this would be the one.” Because our shotblasting equipment has excellent uptime, is easy to maintain, and P.M. is simple and quick, the same customer just ordered a third shotblaster for his west coast plant “because of the satisfactory results and past experience in dealing with the staff at MetFin.”  

Cost Comparison: Manual vs. Automated Shotblasting

The cost savings between manual blast cleaning and automated shotblasting can be dramatic. Savings can be obtained, particularly with regard to abrasive cost per hour, power consumption costs, and uptime. A recent calculation of operating cost and production data for a customer cleaning various steel weldments showed table blast machines cost $27/hour to operate, while hand blasting with an alumina oxide costs $47/hour. In addition, the customer could blast 4 times as many parts with a table blast compared to hand blasting over the same time period.  That meant our table blast machine could pay for itself in 12 months or sooner. Every hour on the blast table would save 4 hours of manual blasting when all costs are considered, in addition to improving monthly cash flow for the business.An operating cost and payback analysis for a new skew roll blast machine also demonstrates the notable savings opportunities generated by our equipment.  Direct drive electric blast machines are the most cost effective way to clean the outer surface of ferrous pipes. Any operation currently using compressed air to clean pipe with alumina oxide or another sand-like media will find a MetFin wheel blast machine can generate savings across four major areas:  Energy, Abrasive, Labor, and Maintenance.  Using the example of 4” diameter pipe in 40’ long sections, the total cost to blast clean 1 each pipe measuring 4”diameter X 40’ long would be $31.04 with a Manual Airblast Machine with sand. Compare that to cleaning the same pipe with a MetFin Blast Machine: just $1.63, an incredible savings of $29.41 per pipe. With this level of savings a MetFin Blast Machine would pay for itself after cleaning just 5,101 pipes.  

Choosing to make important capital equipment investments like this now means also being able to leverage historically low current loan rates. This low-cost financing opportunity makes this obviously smart investment look even more brilliant from an economical standpoint. Get in touch with MetFin for more information on automated shotblast systems.